Chapter 34: The Blizzard Queen

The next morning, I shivered from the cold and woke up.

Huh? Cold? That’s weird. The barrier should regulate the temperature—it shouldn’t be this low.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Kazuya sleeping while holding me, and outside the barrier, a blizzard was howling, piling up snow. Given the situation, the temperature outside must have dropped far more than expected.

—This is strange.

Even though it’s still February, last night’s weather didn’t suggest snowfall, let alone a blizzard like this. We’re not even in the mountains—this sudden change can’t be natural.

I recall there’s an ancient magic spell that can summon blizzards. If that’s the case, then this must be magical in nature. And the one capable of such a thing… is likely one of the Demon King’s generals—literally, the Blizzard Queen herself.

I patted Kazuya’s cheek to wake him up.

"Mmm…? Morning… Wait, why’s it so—what the hell?!"

He sluggishly sat up, looked around, and froze in shock at the raging blizzard outside.

"Was the weather like this last night? This isn’t normal, right?"

"Yeah, definitely not. I’m pretty sure it’s the Blizzard Queen’s ancient magic… She must be incredibly skilled."

The magic currently used in the human world—modern magic, you could call it—is just one category. Then there’s grand magic, which is fading away, followed by ancient magic, lost to humans, and even older than that, primal magic.

Even among elves, only those deeply devoted to magic can use ancient spells. As for primal magic, only elders who’ve lived over 3,000 years know it. I learned some from the elders during my visit home, so I can use it to an extent.

By the way, primal magic doesn’t have elemental attributes like fire or ice—it’s purely about manipulating raw mana. You can strike with it, erect barriers, or make it explode.

Ancient magic, on the other hand, involves vast amounts of mana to manipulate weather, alter terrain in some cases, or even launch blades of vacuum—spells both large and small. It’s the foundation of modern and grand magic, but by today’s standards, it’s underdeveloped and consumes too much mana.

Weather manipulation and terrain alteration were deemed too disruptive and became forbidden arts. Not to mention, the mana cost was so high that even among elves, few could wield them.

From there, magic branched into modern and grand spells. Modern magic was optimized for races like humans with lower mana reserves, while grand magic was designed for large-scale use by mana-rich races like elves.

Now, with humans vastly outnumbering the reclusive elves, modern magic is what remains as the standard, while grand magic is on the verge of being lost due to lack of practitioners.

Anyway, the fact that an ancient blizzard spell blankets the area suggests the Blizzard Queen is likely an elf—and a powerful one at that.

Not to toot my own horn, but it’s rare for elves to side with humans or the Demon King. To elves, the war between humans and demons is just a recurring event every few centuries—one that barely affects our villages. So the only ones who get involved are those with personal reasons, like me.

And yet, siding with the Demon King…? As you know, demons operate on pure strength. The strong rule, the weak submit—that’s their world. Even if an elf’s magic is powerful, a physically frail one would be looked down upon. Elves naturally have low physical prowess—no matter how much we train, our muscles don’t grow much. We can’t even match humans, let alone dwarves, in raw strength.

In other words, if an elf is directly targeted, they’re done for. Surviving among demons would be tough, let alone rising to become a general. It’s practically unthinkable.

Humans, on the other hand, balance authority and merit. They lean toward hierarchy, but if you have strong magic, they’ll acknowledge you accordingly—even if you’re physically weak.

Given that, siding with humans over the Demon King would be the natural choice. If the Blizzard Queen really is an elf, I’d love to ask why she joined the demons… Not that I’ll get the chance.

"So, what do we do, Miki?"

"Hmm…"

Since this blizzard is created by ancient magic, it can be negated. Weather-manipulation spells were studied so extensively that counter-spells were developed—though they require analyzing the mana wavelength and adjusting the spell, which takes time.

"Give me a moment. I’ll use a negation spell."

I closed my eyes and focused, sensing the blizzard’s mana and analyzing its structure.

"—Got it."

Kazuya nodded and began scanning our surroundings, staying alert to protect me. But the blizzard masked all presence—he couldn’t sense anything. Still, he kept watch, knowing that without my barrier hiding our presence and distorting vision, we’d have been attacked long ago—or frozen to death. A terrifying thought.

He glanced back at me, smiling faintly at how dependable I looked, muttering incantations with my eyes closed. Then he snapped back to attention, keeping guard.

As he watched, a search party passed within 10 meters of us. Between the forest, the blizzard, and my barrier’s concealment, they didn’t notice us. Kazuya was ready to annihilate them with Golden Awakening if needed, but they moved on without a clue.

He let out a quiet sigh of relief and resumed his vigil.

"——Alright! Sorry for the wait!"

With the blizzard spell fully analyzed, I raised my staff high and activated the negation magic. A beam of light shot into the sky, piercing the clouds. After a brief flash, the clouds dispersed.

The blizzard stopped. The overcast sky cleared, revealing blue once more.

Of course, the monsters would now be moving toward the source of the light—toward us. We had to move fast.

"Kazuya! The Blizzard Queen is over there!"

Thanks to the spell analysis, I had a rough idea of the caster's location. I pointed, and Kazuya nodded.

"Got it!"

"Wah—?!"

Without warning, Kazuya scooped me up in a princess carry, tucking me against his chest as he broke into a sprint. I clung to his neck to keep from falling while chanting reinforcement, barrier, and cold-resistance spells on us both.

"Thanks."

Kazuya didn’t slow down, cutting down monsters in passing with a single swing of Takemikazuchi in his free hand.

We broke through the forest, and in the distance, across a field, stood what looked like an enemy outpost. The Blizzard Queen had to be there.

"That’s it."
"That’s the place!"

A horde of monsters waited at the outpost’s entrance, and the search party from earlier was closing in from behind. We were being flanked.

Kazuya set me down just before the army.

"We’re breaking through the center and going straight for the general’s head. Can you keep up?"

"Obviously. Don’t underestimate your best friend."

Kazuya grinned at my response. Honestly, keeping up would be tough—but I refused to hold him back. No matter what, I’d stay by his side.

As we exchanged words, the monster ranks suddenly split down the middle, lining up on either side. It was as if someone deeper within was saying, "We won’t interfere—come forward."

"Miki."
"Yeah."

We locked eyes and nodded. Kazuya sheathed his sword and strode straight down the path the monsters had opened, toward two figures waiting at the end. I walked beside him.

The pressure from the monsters flanking us was palpable, but we advanced side by side. The search party had regrouped behind us, forming a loose encirclement.

Ahead stood two figures—one a bearded, brown-skinned man who looked to be in his forties, the other a silver-haired woman with long ears, dark elf-like features, and the same dusky complexion.

"That man… he’s strong," Kazuya muttered.

If Kazuya sensed it, there was no mistake. And the woman’s mana was immense, just as expected.

"Think the man’s a general too?"

"Could be. The remaining ones are the Spider Queen and the Thunder Emperor… So, the Thunder Emperor?"

"Thunder vs. Thunder, huh? That’s a clash worth seeing."

"You say the wildest things so casually, Miki."

We kept up the banter until we stopped at a measured distance from the pair. Tension crackled in the air, our earlier levity gone. Kazuya rested a hand on Takemikazuchi, poised to move. The slightest action would ignite the fight.

Then, the dark elf woman broke the silence.

"I am Nevaska, the Blizzard Queen, one of the Demon King’s generals. This man is Kalif, my… let’s call him my attendant."

One guess right, one wrong. So, she was the Blizzard Queen, but the man wasn’t a general—just her subordinate. Yet he radiated power. Just an attendant? Unlikely.

"Elf. You’re the one who dispelled my blizzard, correct?"

"I’m Miki. This is Kazuya, the Hero. And yes, I’m the one who broke your spell."

No point hiding it—she already knew.

"I see. The intel wasn’t wrong. If you were weak enough to die in that blizzard, you wouldn’t be worth my time. Still…" Her tone shifted, almost delighted. "I didn’t expect you to cancel it. I assumed you’d just power through. Right, Kalif?"

The man beside her grinned, crimson eyes gleaming. "Yeah. Opponents like this are rare. Letting them go would be a waste—that’s why I told the grunts to stand down."

Oh great. Battle junkies. Their friendliness? Just because they saw us as worthy foes. This was going to be annoying.

The whole vibe was off. Unlike the giant and wolfkin generals we’d faced before, these two showed zero hostility. It didn’t feel like we were talking to enemies at all.

And then there was the question I’d wanted to ask: Why help the Demon King? Elves siding with him was rare, and one rising to general despite our physical weakness? Unheard of.

Not that I expected an answer, but curiosity won out.

"Mind if I ask you something…?"

"…Oh? Go ahead." Nevaska draped herself over Kalif’s arm, watching us with amusement—as if she already knew my question and how this would end.